Hey, Nelly. Nelly, look, who am I?
- Picasso. - Mm-mm.
- Statue of Liberty. - Mm-mm.
- The girl from The Hunger Games. - Mm-mm.
I know, John Travolta.
Mm-mm.
Usain Bolt is the biggest star in global athletics.
His success is unprecedented - the first sprinter to win
double 100m and 200m titles in consecutive Olympic Games.
His fame makes it hard to remember that he was
just another young hopeful dreaming of Olympic success.
Here he is at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
He was just 17 years old.
He was highly considered as a 200m and 400m sprinter
but this first appearance at the Olympic Games
was a not-too-happy experience for the youngster.
Right from the gun
it looks like Matsuda of Japan is pulling up lame
and in lane two Unger from Germany is running very well.
They're going to come around the bend
with Jedrusinski of Poland in lane seven.
Nsiah on the inside trying to keep up with them.
Poor form and a leg injury saw Bolt eliminated
in the semifinals in a disappointing time.
So what happened to Bolt over the next four years?
What path led a promising teenager
to become a world-beating athlete?
Bolt, you see, was the wrong height
to dominate at 100 metres. Too tall at 6' 5".
By the time young Usain unravelled his massive frame,
coaches said the race would be over.
That explosive start, so essential to 100m success,
was surely beyond him.
Bolt, however, was not so sure.
He was formidable over 400m
but absolutely hated the hours of endurance training
required for the longer distance.
He wanted to give the 100m a go.
So he and his coaches made a deal.
Bolt would enter a minor athletics meet in Crete
in July 2007 to run 100m,
and if he could beat the time of 10.30,
he could drop the 400m and focus on the 100m and 200m.
But Bolt won the 100m in Crete in a time of 10.03.
If young Usain could threaten ten seconds
at his first attempt aged just 20,
without the required years of explosive sprint training,
then, well, the sky was the limit for this kid.
The 100m would be Bolt's focus
and the Beijing Olympics were fast approaching.
He started to put in some serious gym work
and filled out his huge frame
with hard graft and a special diet regime.
The results were extraordinary.
2008 in Jamaica -
Bolt went under ten seconds for the first time,
a giant leap which put him right up
with the best in the world.
Later that month in New York, Bolt raced against
the world record holder, Tyson Gay.
Bolt won in a sensational time of 9.72 seconds,
a new world record.
It was only Bolt's fifth competitive 100m race.
From nowhere, he'd become
the most exciting young sprinter in the world.
So how does he do it?
Essentially, Bolt compresses his lightning 200m technique
into the shorter distance.
He's still not the best starter,
rarely ahead after 30 metres.
Then once he's up and running, his huge size becomes an asset.
While a top sprinter will typically take
44 paces over 100m, Bolt just takes 41 paces.
That's approximately 17 metres extra distance per pace
over the course of the race.
And so back to 2008 and the Olympic Games in Beijing -
the final of the men's 100m.
Usain was ready to do his thing.
And they're off.
Big start by Richard Thompson in lane four from Trinidad
and here comes Usain Bolt.
Bolt is pulling away, Bolt's looking back -
you don't look back in 100m!
9.68 is a world record for Usain Bolt.
9.68 - a new world record.
The fastest man in the world.
That celebration on the line
told the world he could run faster.
And soon he would.
But it was the Olympic gold medal he really wanted.
I know.
Mo Farah.